Post COVID-19 Work Strategies and Implications: Insight on Indian it Sector

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the work strategies adopted by leading Indian IT companies post COVID-19 and their institutional and individual level implications. Following the exploratory sequential mixed-method approach, in the first phase, the data were collected from 8 leading IT companies in India to understand the work strategies implemented post COVID -19 to ensure employees’ safety without disrupting client deliverables. In the second phase, the primary qualitative interviews were conducted and selected IT companies’ financial statements with a systematic analysis of financial indicators were used to gauge the impact of new work strategies. The study reveals the selected IT companies were embracing Work-From-Home or Work-From-Anywhere as their work strategies by ensuring little to no disruption, were armed with a host of technology tools that allowed employees’ swathes to new work-norm within hours. The study findings manifold implications of the new work-norm are that it has no negative impact on the companies’ client deliverables and profitability. The paper confirms that the remote-working approach has resulted in reduced carbon footprint, work-life balance, and de-urbanization while identifying the flip side of this approach as the negative impact on team cohesiveness and employee emotional wellbeing. This research confirms the critical lesson learned from COVID-19 is agile companies must plan for a range of incomprehensible contingencies to ensure business continuity and growth. The research findings contribute towards understanding the Indian IT sector experiences in adopting the remote-work strategies and taken as lessons that can be useful for other global IT sectors.

Impact of Hybrid and On-Site Work Arrangements on Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction in the BPO Industry: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Furthermore, considering the perspective of the SDT theory, this study also demonstrates similarity in the levels of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Therefore, this study disproves four out of five hypotheses, suggesting that the current body of literature proposing potential benefits of hybrid work setups, such as increased job satisfaction and employee motivation in comparison to on-site work arrangements, may not be as straightforward as previously believed (Contreras et al, 2020;Kolluru et al, 2021;Breaugh et al, 2018;Blanchard et al, 2020;Rahman, 2019;Omondi & K'Obonyo, 2018). This challenges the assumptions that organizations and policymakers might have made when considering the adoption of hybrid work arrangement.…”

“…Figure 1 suggests that there is no significant effect of work arrangement (hybrid vs. on-site) on employee motivation (Hypothesis 1) and job satisfaction (Hypothesis 2). Therefore, this study rejects these two hypotheses thus the researcher posits that the existing literature is insufficient to support that hybrid work arrangements lead to higher levels of employee motivation and job satisfaction compared to on-site work arrangements (Contreras et al, 2020;Kolluru et al, 2021;Breaugh et al, 2018;Blanchard et al, 2020). These findings imply that the type of work arrangement alone may not be a strong predictor of employee motivation and job satisfaction.…”

“…The hybrid work model has several advantages, including increased productivity, flexibility, and employee satisfaction (Contreras et al, 2020;Kolluru et al, 2021;Breaugh et al, 2018;Blanchard et al, 2020). Research suggests that granting employees work autonomy, which includes the freedom to choose their working time, location, and methods, can lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction (Pavlova, 2019;Rahman, 2019;Omondi & K'Obonyo, 2018;Kazekami, 2020).…”

“…However, the hybrid work model also has its ramifications. On the one hand, it has increased productivity, but on the other hand, it has had a holistic impact on employees' life schedules, and mental health issues have surfaced (Kolluru et al, 2021). Hence, it is crucial to study the impact of hybrid and on-site work arrangements on employee motivation and job satisfaction in the BPO industries.…”

Resilience of operating models: exploring the potential of agile project management as enabler

“…Resilience is defined by its contrast to lean or (more controversial) green approaches. Under the lockdown circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations needed to adjust to virtual teamwork, which immediately required great attention toward technology (Griffin, 2021; Kolluru et al ., 2021; Schmidtner et al ., 2021) to ensure operational resilience. It is imaginable that organizations might focus more on the mindset or the leadership attributes under different circumstances.…”